Detectives

Police departments throughout the United States who assign police officers to perform retroactive investigations (investigating past crimes and collecting evidence) are called detectives; investigators; or, less frequently, inspectors. Detectives are also engaged in undercover operations, electronic surveillance, decoys, stings, and stakeouts in order to investigate continuing criminal enterprises. They are usually appointed to this detective designation, rather than promoted as the result of a competitive civil service exam process, which is the common promotion method for sergeant, lieutenant, and captain. The process for promotion to detective can range from a formal career path, evaluation of arrest activity, training, and education, to an abrupt instant reward for a heroic act or for solving an important or highly publicized case.

The position of detective is the most celebrated, romanticized, and televised activity in the field of policing. Cunning, diligence, intellect, “street smarts,” interviewing skills, and the wise handling of informants are but a few of the expected attributes that are called upon to solve every “television crime” within an hour-long show. Unfortunately, this media reality has created an inflated illusion of detectives and what they do. It also has severely skewed the impact that detectives have on the totality of actual crime. The ordinary uniform police are rarely acknowledged for their main importance in solving crimes. Detectives are not line-supervisors of police, but may be tasked with the responsibility of supervising police access and behavior at a crime scene. It is clear that the designation of detective is a most sought-after appointment or assignment, for it awards a police officer with increased status, financial compensation, and discretionary work time. Many police officers strive to work in civilian clothes and avoid wearing a police uniform. In NYPD argot, a detective assignment gets you out of the “bag,” or uniform.

A study conducted in 1975 by the RAND Corporation found that only 7% of a detective's work time was occupied with activities in connection with solving a crime and rarely involved scientific evidence collection. Detectives spend most of their time doing administrative or clerical reports and attempting to locate and interview witnesses. The most important factor influencing the solving of a case is the information provided by the victim to the first responding uniform officer. Key information is whether the victim can identify the perpetrator or perpetrators of the crime. Inspection of the Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics reveals that only about 21% of all reported crimes are cleared by arrest or exceptional clearance; the vast [Page 137]majority of those arrests were made by the regular uniform patrol force. Serious crimes have clearance rates above the mean. Approximately 90% of the convictions are the result of a plea bargains, not the verdict of a jury at the end of a criminal trial.

Where and how detectives are assigned within a police department depends on the size of the department and the number of crimes referred for investigation. There are management cycles in large departments that go through waves of centralized and decentralized command structures, along with specialization and general practice. Detectives have been under the exclusive command of a Chief of Detectives separate from uniform patrol services, and on other cycles, they have been under the exclusive control of the local uniform precinct commander. Specialty units such as homicide squad, sex crimes squad, hate crimes squad, robbery squad, burglary squad, larceny squad, crime scene squad, and joint federal/state/municipal task forces for terrorism and bank robberies have come in and out of existence depending on the political necessity.

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